The last time Islamic terrorists came to the Bataclan: 'Next time we not come to talk'

In 2006-2009 at leat, Le Bataclan hosted the annual fundraising gala
of the French Jewish Migdal nonprofit group for the Israeli Border
Police. Last month, it hosted a gathering of some 500 Zionist Christians
who came there in support of the Jewish state.

In one case involving threats against Le Bataclan, a group of
approximately 10 men wearing Arab keffiyehs over their faces arrived in
December 2008 at the theater, demanding to speak to management.

“This is something we cannot continue to accept,” one of the men from
the group was filmed telling the security guards outside Le Bataclan.
“You will pay the consequences of your actions,” the same person, his
voice electronically distorted, told the camera after the confrontation,
which ended peacefully. “We came here to pass along a small message. Be
warned. Next time we won’t be coming here to talk.”

The massacre at Le Bataclan Friday, during a rock concert by The
Eagles of Death Metal band from the United States, was by far the
deadliest of the six simultaneous attacks which French security forces
said were perpetrated by at least eight terrorists. According to a tally
released by French authorities on Saturday, 127 people died [that's now been raised to 132. CiJ] and some
180 were wounded.

...

At
Le Bataclan, two terrorists fired at patrons at random but in a calm
and deliberate manner, survivors said. Police stormed the building
approximately 40 minutes after the killing began. The terrorists were
killed in the takeover.

Whereas the men who showed up at Le Bataclan in 2008 presented
themselves as “residents of the area,” threats of attack against the
concert hall as payback for Israel’s actions also included foreign
players, according to a 2011 report by Le Figaro.

According to that report, a French woman named Dodi Hoxha told French
counterterrorism officers in 2010 of a plot by Jaish Islam, Al Qaeda’s
branch in Gaza whose name means “the Army of Islam”, to organize an
attack at Le Bataclan, which Hoxha said had been selected because “the
owners are Jewish.”

Hoxha was arrested that year in connection with an attack against
French students in Cairo in 2009, in which one student died. DGSE, the
French external security agency, believed the attack on the students in
Cairo was to punish France for its perceived role in Israel’s blockade
of the Gaza Strip.

According to the website of Le Bataclan, the venue is being run by
Jules Frutos and Olivier Poubelle, who owned most or all of the place
until the media group of the billionaire Arnaud Lagardère bought 70
percent of the asset in September.

Attempts to verify claims of a Jewish link relevant to Frutos, Poubelle or Lagardère were not immediately successful.

But
for France’s far-right Jewish Defense League, LDJ, the threats against
Le Bataclan are proof that it was targeted as punishment for hosting
pro-Israel events.

“Pro-Palestinian groups designated it openly as a
‘Zionist’ concert hall, and now we see the result,” LDJ wrote in a
statement shortly after the attacks. “France woke up to a taste of
‘Palestine’.”

Yet Nicolas Shashani, a prominent French pro-Palestinian activist,
said that despite some incidents, Le Bataclan is not generally
associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Le Bataclan may have had a Zionist link in the past, but if the
perpetrators wanted to select a site tied to Israel to send a message,
it doesn’t strike me as a very effective target,” he said. “To the
general population, Le Bataclan is just a concert hall and nothing
more,” he said.

Shashani noted that “unsubstantiated rumors” also linked the attack
to the Eagles of Death Metal band, because it performed in Israel in
July. During the concert in Tel Aviv, lead singer Jesse Hughes recalled
how Roger Waters, a former member of the Pink Floyd band and a promoter
of a boycott against Israel, asked the band to stay away. “I answered
with two words: F**ck you!” he told the cheering audience, adding: “I
would never boycott a place like this.”

The band escaped the attack unscathed.

Shashani said it was “far-fetched” to suppose the band was the reason for Le Bataclan’s targeting.

“In previous attacks, there were clear targets,” Shashani said.
“Soldiers, cops, a kosher supermarket. This time, the attacks were
against cafes, restaurants, a soccer stadium – attacks against the
Frenchman on the street.”

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I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com